What's in a name?

photo from http://weheartit.com

My self-assigned homework project for the day was to name our future farm.  This is something I've been thinking about for years, but the time has come to pick a name (for the purpose of the loan paperwork and business planning) and stick with it for a while.  A name gives a sense of purpose, an understanding.

I knew that I wanted something simple, not too specific (so that I would feel tied to growing a specific crop), and easy to pronounce and spell (for check writing purposes).  I also wanted something unique (to the extent that it doesn't show up on the first few pages of google as being the name of another farm.

And so K and I spent the past two days bouncing ideas off one another.  Pretty much everything we did, ate, and heard inspired the name of a farm (Nacho Farm was my personal favorite for a while).  We came up with hundreds of (mostly humorous) options.  And then finally one felt right.

Full Heart Farm.

At first I thought it may be a little too...mushy...but I actually think it holds our sentiment quite well.  The name is inspired by one of our favorite TV shows, Friday Night Lights: "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."  We're pursuing this property with full hearts.  We know that starting a farm together, despite the numerous challenges, will be a wonderful way for us to build a family and a community.

Full Hearts.  Full Minds.  Full Bellies.

Life doesn't get more simple than that.

Pokey's Big Adventure

With the fall harvest season complete, I decided to spend the weekend visiting K and the girls at the farm.  I missed everyone so much, but especially little Pokey, who relies on me for protection, good food, and friendship.  I'm beginning to think that she doesn't realize she is a chicken.  And in turn, I'm beginning to treat her less like one.

She hasn't really spent time outside since the nor'easter last weekend, so she was very curious about the snow.  She, and the other chickens, chowed down on the last remaining strip at the end of the driveway.  A snow buffet.  Pokey has learned where I spend most of my time (in the house) and now has the strength to fly/walk all the way to the doorway to sit and wait.  She peeps and peeps until I come outside and pick her up.  While we were making breakfast she enjoyed grapes and a pear core, along with some lettuce roots from last night's dinner.

The feast continued this afternoon when Pokey and I walked out to the abandoned corn maze to harvest some of the field corn for "chicken candy."  She is so content traveling under my arm, trusting that I'll protect her.  She pecked around the field (enjoying a break from getting picked on by the other chickens) while I harvested a box of corn.  The bigger girls enjoy the challenge of pecking off the kernels one at a time and even though the corn doesn't have many nutrients, the extra calories help to keep them warm during the chilly evenings.

I made stuffed butternut squash (with ground pork from this summer's pigs) and apple turnovers for dinner.  All the girls enjoyed the squash seeds (which can act as a natural de-wormer) and the apple peels and cores.  There is very little waste with a bunch of hungry hens in the backyard.

With daylight savings, the girls were in bed by 5PM tonight, a welcome change that means we also settle in earlier in the day.  The shorter days mean fewer eggs, but everyone deserves a little break.

Dogs may be man's best friend, but little Pokey sure is mine.

Autographs

Cook Farm in Hadley, MA

I felt like a celebrity yesterday.  Well, minus all of the glitz and glamour.  And the fans.  And the paparazzi.  It's just nice to pretend that signing important papers is like handing out my autograph.  It takes away some of the anxiety of committing myself to legal documents.

Yesterday I signed a contract with a real estate agent (the same woman who has been accompanying me on house tours in the Stonington area).  The contract is general, but still held a lot of meaning for me.  It states that I cannot purchase a house without her in the next six months, and that she is here to support me in purchasing a house for the next six months.  The second part is really the key.  I have decided to invest my time in pursuing the North Stonington Farm in hopes of putting in an offer in January (I will need about 2 months to complete my business plan and loan application) and closing in early April (it will take another 3 months to process the loan application and nail down all of the details).  It's still a long shot, but I just have a good feeling.

And if I've learned nothing in the past twenty years, it's to trust my instinct.

I feel overwhelmed with everything that needs to come together in the next couple of months before I can make this a reality.  I need to meet with a second group of loan providers (who are unfortunately still without power because of last Saturday's big storm).  I need to finish my Holistic Management homework.  I need to take my soil test to the lab.  I need to develop a concrete business plan, crop plan, and grazing plan.  I need to figure out a mess of financial information for the loan application.  I need to find a job to supplement my farm income the first couple of years (another source of yesterday's "autographs" was submitting letters of interest and resumes to some local businesses).  I need to make sure all of the key investors and decision makers are on the same page.  It's a lot, but it's doable.  

And in the back of my mind, I still need to have a PLAN B, in case this doesn't work out.  I think that will come a little later, after I've indulged in the fantasy of making this farm my own enough to develop a real plan.

I still can't believe this is actually happening.  

I better work on perfecting my autograph, because I have a feeling I'll be signing a lot of important paperwork in the next few weeks.

Heritage Lawn Mowing

photo by Randy Harris for the New York Times

I love creative agricultural endeavors.  Like THIS young farmer, who rents out his sheep for a dollar a day to mow neighborhood lawns.  It's innovative ideas like this that will bring exposure to the farming movement and create excitement about agriculture.  Fantastic.

Pig Latin

One key aspect of my business plan will be raising pigs.  I love their temperament, their foraging abilities, and most of all - their meat.  I've raised pigs for the past few years and visited lots of different pig farms.  What I didn't realize until trying to explain the whole system, was that their is a good deal of hog-specific lingo that comes with being familiar with raising pigs.  Pig Latin, if you will.

Here are a few key vocabulary words (I use the word pig in the definitions as a substitute for "swine," which is actually the correct term):

Piglet - young pig from birth to weaning
Shoat - young pig from weaning age to 100 pounds
Hog - pig that weighs more than 120 pounds
Butcher/Market Hog - pig that weighs 220-260 pounds and is ready for slaughter
Feeder - pig that weighs 40-70 pounds and is sold to a farmer to be raised and fed to market weight
Finishing Hog - pig that weighs between 100 pounds and market weight
Barrow - castrated male (males intended for eating are castrated as piglets because in a mature boar the hormones taint the meat, making it nearly inedible)
Boar - adult male used for breeding
Gilt - young female
Sow - adult female used for breeding
Farrow - to breed pigs
Finishing - toward the end of a market hogs life it is often fed corn, nuts, or high-calorie foods to enhance the layer of fat around the meat
Hog Panels - long, metal strips of fencing
Daylight - a pig with good leg length (so you can see daylight under its legs, important for some breeds used for authentic-style cured meats)

I'm sure there are others, but learning these basic terms is definitely a good start!

Main Varieties of Hog Breeds: Berkshire*, Chester White, Duroc, Hampshire, Hereford, Large Black*, Poland China, Red Wattle, Spotted, Tamworth*, Yorkshire (amidst hundreds of others, * indicates breeds I would select because of their good mothering, foraging skills, and lean growth).

And, while we're reviewing pig basics, below are the basic cuts of meat:

image from http://www.90meat.com/productspork.html

Now you're all ready to talk hog!

Dollars, Dirt, and Decisions

photo from http://madamecupcake.tumblr.com

Yesterday was a full day for me - equal time spent enjoying the beautiful weather with family and time spent working toward my goal of having my own farm.

In the morning I drove up to Norwich, CT to the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) FSA (Farm Service Agency) Office.  I met with the loan provider there, who patiently explained all of their different programs and my eligibility.  Because of my degree in agriculture and 2 years of experience managing a farm, I qualify for the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loan Programs.  The average age of farmers in the US is nearing age 60, with not nearly enough young farmers to take on the burden of feeding our country.  This federal program is designed to assist young farmers in starting their own farm business, through purchasing and operating loans.

There were two loans programs that could make purchasing the Picturesque North Stonington Farm a reality.  The Down Payment Assistance Program loans young farmers capable of putting 5% down on the property 45% of the appraised property value.  I would need to source the other 50% of the cost from another loan agency.  The benefits of this program are 1) a very low interest rate (yesterday it was 1.5%), 2) I would pay an annual mortgage instead of monthly, which fits much better with the finances of agriculture, and 3) I would only need to put 5% down on the property, leaving more of my savings to pay for initial operating costs.

The second program is for Direct and Guaranteed Farm Ownership.  This program would lend $300,000 towards the purchase of the property.  If I am able to negotiate the price of the farm down and secure additional funding from my family, this could potentially cover the cost of the farm.  Through this program I would also pay an annual mortgage at a fixed interest rate (yesterday it was 3.75%).  After crunching the numbers for a while and factoring in off-farm income, this could be something we could reasonably afford.  We could actually own our own farm!

The program is not without challenges and logistics.  First, I need to be denied a loan through Farm Credit East (the other farm-lending program in the state).  I will also need to be investigated to be sure I don't have any hidden inheritance or wealth that would bump me from the low-income bracket (I don't think this will be a problem!).  After a full background check (into my degree and farm experience) and an appraisal and inspection of the farm and house, I would need to meet with a board to review my business plan and ten-year growth.  They are looking for details and specifics - a thorough understanding of growing practices, business management, and marketing in this area.  It's the real deal.

Being a female puts me at an advantage in the program (where young women farmers are considered socially disadvantaged).  But my experience puts me on the cusp of the program (which really looks for three years of management experience).  Should it become an issue, I may need to form an LLC with my partner K (who has 4 years of farm management experience), where I am the primary operator and own 51% of the business.

Is your head hurting yet?

Even though it's a bit of a mess of logistics, that sort of just comes with buying a farm and a house.  And I feel ready and supported enough to dive in.  The process will take several months, but between K, my family, my real estate agent, and the loan provider, I feel like we can actually make this work.  There's a lot standing in the way, but it wouldn't really be an adventure if there wasn't a challenge.  Right?  Please nod yes.

I left the meeting feeling empowered.

And when I got back home, K and my mom were there with smiles and excitement.  I've been working on this project mostly by myself (especially the past couple of weeks) and it was nice to finally share that this could be a reality.  We could get attached just enough to want it make it work.

And it was made even more real in the afternoon when I took K to see the property and the house.  I was eager to get his opinion, take a second look at everything with clear eyes (and a full heart), and to do a soil sample.  I couldn't help but smile while I was standing with a shovel in the middle of that gorgeous pasture with my partner and a handful of really dark, good feeling soil.  We could make a home for ourselves there. We both agreed.

And we even found a shortcut to my parents house on the way home!

I've got my work cut out for me.  But I don't feel rushed.  It will take time to be thorough.  I feel as though a lot of the planning specifics will come more naturally now that we have a specific spot in mind.  And our plan is just that - a plan.  There's no reason it can't change if it doesn't work out - it just needs to be good enough to get us started.

I can't help but smile today.

Local Food: No Elitist Plot

Roasted Brussels Sprouts - photo from http://simplyrecipes.com/

This article, by food guru Mark Bittman of the New York Times, does a really great job of explaining the benefits and necessity of locally produced food.  Check it out!

I’m not a jingoist, but I’d prefer that more of my food came from America. It’d be even better, really, if most of it came from within a few hundred miles of where we live. We’d be more secure and better served, and our land would be better used. And I’d feel prouder, as if we had a food culture rather than a food fetish.

The Farm Bill [PDF], which is currently under negotiation for renewal — and is dangerously close to being pushed through without real debate — needs to address this issue head-on. But by subsidizing commodities, the existing bill (and food policy in general), pushes things in precisely the opposite direction. The vast majority of our farmland grows corn (we’re the world’s largest producer), soy and wheat, and these, along with meat and dairy, make us net exporters of foodstuffs.

Continue reading HERE.